


Never Be The Same

by MysticalAuthoress



Series: Fate Brings Us Together [3]
Category: Escape the Night (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Escape the Night Season 1 Spoilers, Escape the Night Season 2 Spoilers, Escape the Night Season 3 Spoilers, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Post-Escape the Night Season 3, Pre-Escape the Night Season 4, takes place post Season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2020-05-18 15:32:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19337389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticalAuthoress/pseuds/MysticalAuthoress
Summary: Takes place post-"Here We Go Again." Mortimer has a lot of adjusting to do since what happened at Everlock. Figuring that out with Vincent and his new friends by his side makes it a lot easier.





	Never Be The Same

**Author's Note:**

> Author note: I don’t own Escape The Night, or else Jetpack Girl’s name as Joanne would be canon. 
> 
> It’s been a while, but here we are at the follow-up oneshot for “Here We Go Again!” For those who haven’t read the fic, PLEASE go back and read it, because it gives the background context for this one. For those who don’t want to go through about twenty-something chapters, “Here We Go Again” was a canon-divergent fic taking place during Season 3, where Vincent, Jetpack Girl and Riley from Seasons 1 and 2 ended up helping Calliope and Mortimer of Season 3 effectively save all the guests. Also, Jetpack Girl/Riley and Mortimer/Vincent (I guess the ship name is Morticent now? It was suggested by some people in the comments from the past fic) are established. 
> 
> Please note that I wrote most of this fic prior to the teasers for Season 4 being released and LONG before the official trailer was released, so clearly this is going to be canon-divergent and probably won’t mesh too well with Season 4 canon. Heck, the series this fic is in is already inherently canon-divergent, given that this takes place post-“Here We Go Again.” No flames, please.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy reading this fic!

It took Mortimer a moment to realize where he was, when he woke up. He was alone in the room, which was at least two times bigger than his room back in Everlock, and the bed was super fancy, and there were dressers and a closet. There was also a window, sunlight peeking through the not-quite closed, lacy curtains.

A knock came from the door to his left. Mortimer sat up.

“It’s unlocked.” He managed, grimacing at how hoarse he sounded. Definitely needed water. Maybe some of that tea Riley was great at making (and she was probably the first person that got him liking tea). “Come in!”

The door creaked open, only for Vincent to peek his head in. His dark hair was a little messy, as usual, and though he didn’t wear the red suit and those platform shoes, the simpler white shirt and plain trousers still looked good on him. At least, Mortimer thought so.

The reddening of Vincent’s face at the clearly shirtless Mortimer also was amusing to him.

“Morning, Mortimer. Um,” Vincent looked away briefly, “Should I have waited?”

“Huh?” Mortimer looked down at himself, before chuckling. “Vincent, I’m not _naked._ And it’s just the two of us.”

Vincent still wasn’t looking. “Are you sure?”

“I have pants on. It’s fine.”

Vincent finally looked towards him, face flushed as he closed the door behind him. “You could have warned me that you weren’t fully dressed before I came in!”

Mortimer got out of bed, sauntering over to the darker-haired man. “And I appreciate you trying to be a gentleman, but it’s fine when it’s the two of us. Is this just part of 1920s culture or just you in general?”

“Just…” Vincent almost averted his gaze from Mortimer again, but settled for looking him in the eyes. “Just me, I think.”

“Besides,” Mortimer’s voice got low, and he chuckled, “If I want anyone walking in on me like this, it’s you.”

Vincent’s face still flushed, but he couldn’t help the smile that formed. “I think I’d like that.”

Just before Mortimer could give him a peck on the lips, that was when the bedroom door opened. “Mortimer? Morning, it’s time for—oh.”

Mortimer and Vincent both looked to see Ryu standing there, staring right at them. Vincent and Mortimer, for a moment, awkwardly stared right back at him.

“Uh…morning.” Mortimer cleared his throat awkwardly, both him and Vincent pulling apart from each other a bit, but Ryu couldn’t help but grin.

“You two have fun. Morning.” With that, Ryu left.

Vincent and Mortimer both stared towards each other awkwardly, completely unsure of what to say or do in that very moment.

* * *

 

Vincent and Mortimer entered the kitchen on the first floor. Sure, there was a dining room, but everyone usually just ended up going straight to the kitchen to grab breakfast.

“There you two are.” A smile played on Jael’s face as she looked up from her piece of toast in her hand. Jael’s dark eyeliner was currently not present, and though the added intensity of that was consequentially missing, her still-evident sharp features making her smile look wolfish but teasing. “Had fun _snogging_ each other upstairs?”

Mortimer groaned as Vincent’s face reddened. “Jael, we weren’t snogging!”

“Mhm.” Jael munched into a piece of toast, shrugging _. “Totally_ not what Ryu told me.”

“Let’s keep this morning G-rated, Jael.” Calliope was heard muttering as she sipped a cup of coffee. She was already dressed in her usual leather outfit. “Vincent, Mortimer, it’s just the two of you in the house today. Jael, Ryu and I got a mission, and Riley has her appointment at the SAE.”

“And you _also_ promised you’d show me all your cool equipment and help me get my jetpack repaired.” Jetpack Girl pointed out before biting into her toast. “I’m coming with Riley!”

“Right.” Calliope heaved a breath, giving Mortimer a look of _‘wish me luck.’_ “Of course.”

Mortimer couldn’t help but grin. “Just me and Vincent in the house, huh?”

“You two be good.” Jetpack Girl teased, and Mortimer felt his face flush this time.

“Damn it, of course we will!”

“You will?” Riley echoed, before a giggle escaped her.

“Yessss, we _will.”_

* * *

 

The living arrangement in the Victorian mansion went something like this as of currently:

Ever since Jetpack Girl, Riley, and Vincent took Mortimer, Calliope, Jael and Ryu back to the manor since Everlock, the mansion was _way_ livelier than it was before. Calliope, Jael and Ryu weren’t always there, given their Society Against Evil-related duties, but Mortimer, Riley, Jetpack Girl and Vincent were sure to see them pop in and out. Sometimes Jael, Ryu and Calliope would come back and rant about how tough (or hilariously easy) a mission was. Sometimes they would all just stumble into the mansion and into their designated bedrooms to sleep for almost twelve hours straight. One time, poor Ryu came back with a sprained ankle (which kept him house-ridden for almost a month). Another time, Jael was consuming coffee left and right but still kept falling asleep (Calliope explained it was due to Jael getting injected with some nasty monster venom that did that to its victims).

Sometimes, Vincent prayed for their souls when those three left on missions. He learned said prayers from the priest that was stuck in the same house as him, Father Santos. Mortimer didn’t know much about Santos other than the man being a nice priest and probably the most sane person after Vincent in there (Madison and Colin sounded almost as bad as Arthur, Sarah and Marvin, even if Vincent was generally singled out as the insane out of everyone in there). Mortimer never bothered asking Vincent if he was religious at all, and he figured that someone would bring up some sort of religious background or reasoning if they needed to at some point when necessary.

* * *

 

Sometimes Riley and Vincent, as well as Mortimer and Jetpack Girl, ended up visiting the Society Against Evil headquarters. What era the headquarters were in, no one had a clue. They were extremely top secret with that. However, it did look super high-tech, so they liked to guess eras. (They kept giving their guesses to Calliope, Ryu and Jael, who kept telling them that they were wrong every time.)

The psychiatric treatment facilities present at the headquarters were something _everyone_ took advantage of (and for good reason, given absolutely _everything_ that happened to them in their lives). Mortimer had only been in there a couple of times for appointments as opposed to checking out weapons like Jetpack Girl or missions like Calliope, Jael and Ryu did. Given that he wasn’t as connected to the SAE like the others were, he didn’t know much about the missions except over breakfast, lunch and dinner conversations. Mortimer was glad he wasn’t alone in that confusion, given that Riley and Vincent mainly went to the SAE for said psychiatric treatment. He was also thankful that Vincent established a much better concept of doctors through this. _Fuck whoever Dr. Price is,_ Mortimer thought. That man gave Vincent way too much scarring for a lifetime.

Of course, most of the time, people were at home. Mortimer wasn’t technically part of the Society Against Evil (being an ‘honorary member’ didn’t give him too many benefits other than the psychiatric treatment facilities and maybe a sneak peek at SAE weapons), but he kept himself busy by helping fix up the mansion (and gods, there were _tons_ of repairs). Riley also insisted on him practicing _ballroom dancing._ The prospect of that made him gag a bit, but he figured 1. He might as well make Riley happy and just do it and 2. Vincent got dragged into it too and hey, isn’t dancing supposed to be romantic?

Also, 3. Jael and Ryu were absolutely horrible at ballroom dancing, and if there was _something_ he figured he could try one-upping them at, it was _this._

* * *

 

Everyone took turns cooking dinner when they could. Jetpack Girl and Calliope got overly courageous, and that could be semi-scary to watch. The food was good, though, so he supposed it was worth the crazy efforts.  Riley and Vincent cooked pretty well, too.

Ryu and Mortimer were the worst cooks out of everyone. Not that their cooking caused anyone food poisoning yet, thank goodness, but…well.

“Remind me to never let you cook casseroles again.” Calliope spouted.

Mortimer gave her a look, then looked down at his burnt casserole. “I’ll get it right _next time_ , I promise! Maybe it’s just the top that’s burnt.”

Jetpack Girl looked to the casserole, then to Mortimer again. “I have a feeling it’s more than just the top layer.”

“Maybe the top two.” Ryu managed.

Jael smirked. “I’m thinking _three.”_

Riley looked between everyone. “Maybe it’s not that bad, and we should try eating it first before we judge?”

Vincent shrugged. “I agree with Riley. I think we should try.”

Vincent and Riley soon regretted that decision after they all took a forkful of casserole. Mortimer swore off cooking casseroles for life (or, at least, for a while). Those were only some of the shenanigans that occurred in the house. There were plenty more sure to happen.

* * *

 

“So, uh, it’s just the two of us.”

“Yup.”

“In the house alone.”

“Yeah….” Mortimer then groaned, flopping onto his back on the couch, legs hanging off the side so he could give Vincent some space. Vincent sat down beside him, both of them looking to each other. “Gods, what are we gonna do? There’s not even TV here or anything!’

“I’m sure we can fix up something, once we have all the materials and maybe instructions.”

 _“Maybe_ instructions?”

“Jetpack Girl’s good at improvising.” It helped that the tinkering blonde _was_ the assistant to Cedric out of everyone in the group. Vincent leaned back against the couch, looking down at his partner’s face. “How are you feeling?”

“Other than bored? Fine, I guess.” Mortimer sat up, swinging his legs around so that they dangled off the appropriate edge of the couch and not the side. “What about you?”

“I don’t know. Sad.”

“What?” Mortimer stared right at Vincent. “Wait, why? Is it…”

Vincent swallowed, scratched the back of his head. “I haven’t told you about Lele, have I?”

It took Mortimer a moment, and then he realized. “That’s…I’m guessing, one of the guests from the house you were stuck in? Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Vincent looked like he sank further into the couch. “That’s her. She was one of the few that were left, because I was one of the last people they had to save. She got voted into one of those ‘death challenges,’ and…” He leaned forwards, burying his head in his hands. “She didn’t make it. She _died_ for me, Mortimer.”

“Shit.” Mortimer offered a hand towards Vincent, placing it on one of his forearm, as an attempt towards comfort. “I had no idea. I’m…sorry to hear that.”

“I know the others remaining after made it out, Joey included, but I just think…” Vincent looked up at Mortimer, meeting his gaze, “I just think there might be another way. That there _had_ to be another way, to save them.”

Mortimer wasn’t sure what to say. He knew that the past two parties didn’t go so well, that people died. Hell, Mortimer was more than sure that he and Calliope would be dead if it wasn’t for Vincent, Jetpack Girl and Riley helping them save the guests in Everlock. “I don’t know if there is.”

“There might be.” That came from Jael, who just walked in. Ryu was with her as well, following.

“Jael? Ryu?” Vincent’s gaze snaped to them. “What do you mean, there might be a way to save them? They’re…” He faltered, then shook his head, “They’re _dead_ , aren’t they? You can’t save someone who’s dead!”

“Well, we all know resurrection is possible.” Ryu managed, looking to Mortimer. “Me and Jael got back from an important meeting with Joey and some of the higher-ups at the headquarters and we weren’t going to tell you yet, but…” He bit his lower lip, briefly, “Since we’re on that subject, we might as well break it to you now.”

“You saw Joey?” Mortimer remembered the Savant and how full of dread the poor guy was, over the past deaths of his friends. “How’s he doing? Is he okay?”

“Certainly relieved that no one died in Everlock, yeah.” Ryu managed. “He still feels a lot of guilt over the past two parties, though.”

Mortimer wasn’t surprised by the latter statement. If he were Joey, he probably would have felt the same way. (He still felt guilty about his mom.)

“The thing is, um,” Jael swallowed, before looking Vincent in the eyes, “You know how Ryu and I died and ended up at that church? The one that Joanne visited when she initially died? Apparently, in order for Joey to get his friends back…he’s going to have to go to Purgatory. That _church_ might be the entrance to it, and the crystal Joey now has _might_ be key to reaching the church in the first place.”

Mortimer and Vincent both stared. “Purgatory?”

Out of all the strange things he heard of and encountered in his life so far, Vincent at least knew what _that_ was. A concept of life after death. Not Heaven, but not quite Hell (at least in the Christian tradition, he wasn’t sure if anyone else had a different perception of it).

“Wait,” Mortimer started, “Does that mean he has to _die_ all over again? How is this working?”

“We’re still trying to find out more.” Ryu managed. “We haven’t figured out the full details, but if that’s the case, Jael and I are going to help him in this mission. We have a chance to help him bring back at least _some_ of his friends from the dead this way. We might bring Calliope, too, given her past experience helping him as well as being the only helper that’s, well, alive other than Mortimer.”

No one dared bring up Alison. Mortimer nor Vincent knew her, and they were thankful Riley and Jetpack Girl weren’t here right now. Mentioning the vampire was a touchy subject for those two.

“But,” Vincent managed, “What if they’re all mad at him and want to kill him? Because he invited them to those parties?”

“Well…that’s another beast we’ll deal with when the time comes.” Jael groaned. “We might be able to bring Jetpack Girl. I mean, she died before, so reaching the church might be easier for her to do.”

“What about us?” Mortimer asked. “Could we help, in any way?”

Ryu shook his head, and Mortimer’s heart dropped (figuratively). “No. It might be better that you, Riley and Vincent remain here while we’re gone.”

“What!?”

“This is also _strictly_ SAE business, too, with the exception of bringing Jetpack Girl along.” Ryu pointed out. “I know you two are technically honorary members because of what happened in Everlock, but that doesn’t mean we can bring you both on missions.”

Vincent gave him a look. “You roped me, Joanne and Riley into the past ‘mission’ and we weren’t members _then._ Same goes for Mortimer.”

 _“Technically,_ we had no idea you were coming at all. Someone else in the SAE sent that letter to you three.” Jael explained. “And we were very desperate at the time.”

“Isn’t potentially saving more lives always a desperate situation?” Mortimer crossed his arms, leaned forwards a bit before pulling himself to his feet. “That’s why the SAE brought the three of them into Everlock. If it wasn’t for them helping me and Calliope, we might have a _lot_ more dead people on our hands.”

“You don’t get it.”

“You fucking died before those guests came!” Mortimer couldn’t help his raised voice, but he faltered when he noticed Vincent cringe from the corner of his eye. Shit. He didn’t mean to scare him. Shooting Vincent an apologetic gaze, he took a deep breath before speaking, keeping his voice a bit level this time. “If there’s anyone who knows how to protect the guests, it’s all of us. We saved them from death. Maybe we can do the same with the ones already dead.”

“That’s exactly the problem.” Jael, despite Mortimer’s previous yell, kept a stoic face. It made Mortimer wonder if he was only one of numerous people that broke into emotional outbursts in front of her. He probably wasn’t the first. “This is _the realm of the dead_ we’re talking about. The one who has the souls of our dead guests, the Collector, is _much_ more powerful than the Carnival Master, or an evil of the house, or a Sorceress. At least all three of those were ‘alive’ and could be killed. If we’re dealing with a powerful enemy who’s potentially already dead, given his or her residence in Purgatory itself, then we can’t just simply kill them.”

Vincent frowned at that. _So much for that idea…but is there another way?_

“Also,” Jael looked to Vincent, “I hate to break it to you, but we’re not even sure if _you’re_ in the clear to go on another mission like last time. Last time was…last-minute, so they didn’t have much of a choice but to bring you all into it, but this time we know more of this in advance. And usually we bring in the, for lack of better words, more mentally-sound people—"

“I don’t have hallucinations anymore.” Vincent snapped. He felt his teeth grit. “I haven’t had them for _months._ And my anxiety is getting a lot better.”

“Vincent—” Ryu started, but Vincent shook his head.

“I’m not done.” Vincent stared Jael in the eyes. “There are _eight_ people that died to reach me and free me in the first place, and if any of them are potentially among the dead-to-be-saved, I want to save them. If there’s any chance at all for me to go, I want to go.”

Jael and Ryu went silent, looking towards each other. A sigh escaped Jael’s lips, and then she looked to Vincent. “We’ll do our best to see if you can go, okay? I can’t promise anything, but we’ll put in good word for you when we go to headquarters tomorrow to discuss about it further. Joey might be there, too, so he might also vouch for you.”

Vincent nodded, bowed his head a bit. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes. “Thanks.”

Ryu shrugged. “You’re welcome.” He looked around, then moved to get out of the living room. “Gonna take the shower. I call it first!”

“What!?” Jael ran off after him. “No! I’m going in first!”

* * *

 

Mortimer couldn’t help but chuckle as Jael and Ryu both ran off, before looking to Vincent. “I guess being dead for forty years makes them like a married couple, huh?”

Vincent shrugged, then sat back down on the couch. “I suppose so. I think so.”

“You okay?”

There was a pause, then Vincent shook his head. “No.”

Mortimer swallowed, “Was it the mental thing?”

 _“Yes.”_ Vincent groaned, sank back into the couch. “I know it sucks. But I just wish they hadn’t tried using that as an excuse against me. I mean, I get their concern, it’s just…”

“Yeah…”

Silence fell between them, then Vincent managed, “Whether I can go or not, I think you should go.”

“What? Me?” Mortimer stared right at him. “I’m pretty sure Jael and Ryu are set against me going. They did say that me, you and Riley should all stay here in the first place.”

“I think you being there for the people-to-save would be good for them.” Vincent managed, standing to face him. “They’re not superhumans. I think it would be good for them to…have someone down-to-earth, by their side.”

“I’m down to earth?”

He saw Vincent’s face flush as he nodded. “I-I think so? I mean, you kept me down to earth.”

Mortimer couldn’t help but flash him a smile. “You’re welcome.”

It just made Vincent blush more. “Damn it, Mortimer…is this what you interested in me in the first place? Me being so cute to you?”

“I dunno.” Mortimer scratched the back of his head. “I mean, you were cute. And you were…protecting everyone out there, and that was kinda impressive, and the thing is that you have a good heart. There’s not a lot of people I know that just go and immediately throw themselves at a Strong Man to distract them from killing another innocent person and risk their life.”

“So, when you and I worked together…”

“Yeah.” Mortimer’s face reddened, and he ducked his gaze away from Vincent. “Is that weird? I mean, like, I knew I had some thing for the guys as much as the girls, but you really stood out to me. I know you got your past and all, but…I still love you.”

Vincent couldn’t help but grin. “I don’t think it’s that weird,” he finally managed, “Given everything we went through. And I do appreciate all of what you said.”

“You do?”

“Yes.” Vincent still smiled as he closed his eyes. “I do. And all of what you said about why you were attracted to me…I think that’s how I felt about you, too. That’s how I fell for you.”

“That’s really sweet of you.” Mortimer looked to him again, then leaned in to give him a cheek kiss. “That is really fucking sweet of you.”

“Thanks.”

There was silence, and then Mortimer moved to reach under the couch. Vincent looked towards him, watching carefully. “What are you doing…?”

“Stuffed it under here,” Mortimer muttered under his breath, before pulling out a large case. He got on his knees on the floor beside it, before opening the case to take out what was inside. “Found it. I would’ve stuffed it in my room, but I’m still figuring out how to organize my closet and all.”

Vincent stared. “You hid a guitar under the couch this whole time?”

“Yeah. I, uh,” Mortimer looked down at said guitar, then up at Vincent, “I brought it with me from Everlock. It was something my mom got me for my birthday when I was old enough to drink. I think she was trying to distract me from bar hopping, like some of the other guys did.”

“Did it work?”

“Not much. If anything,” Mortimer laughed, “Everyone at the bar wanted me to come into the bar almost every night and play something for ‘em. _And_ I got free drinks half the time.”

Vincent couldn’t help but grin. Free drinks sounded nice, but now Mortimer had his curiosity piqued. “Do you have anything that you can play right now?”

Mortimer looked up at him. “Now?”

“Yeah. If you want.”

Mortimer needed a moment to think about that, but then a song came to mind.

“Actually…yeah. It’s why I took it out right now, anyway.” Mortimer looked down at the guitar, then up at Vincent. “And this one’s for you. Funny thing is, the song’s actually named after an artist that has the same name as you. Don’t know if I remember the whole thing, but I’ll try.”

Vincent smiled. “Just sing as much as you can remember.”

A strum of the strings, to warm up, and then Mortimer did his best to remember what he knew of the song.

* * *

 

Calliope, Jetpack Girl and Riley would walk back into the house to find Vincent curled up against Mortimer as he played with the guitar.

Calliope’s first question was to ask where that guitar came from, because she didn’t remember Mortimer having one with him when they first came here from Everlock. Jetpack Girl wished she had a camera to take a picture, but Riley cooing over the two together made both men blush, just in time for Jael and Ryu to walk into the room and tease them.

Things might never be the same since Everlock, and who knows what would happen with dead guests and all, but at least they had each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Author note: Depending on how Season 4 goes when it airs, it’s fair to say that if I write any fics about Season 4 in this universe/series that it’ll be canon-divergent, mainly because 1. All the guests of Season 3 survived in my previous fic “Here We Go Again,” so Colleen and Rosanna wouldn’t be among the dead guests in Season 4 as is and 2. I would likely replace them with Season 1’s Lele and Shane instead, or maybe Liza (or maybe I’ll just do ALL the dead guests from Seasons 1 and 2? We’ll see). 
> 
> Also, as a sidenote, the song “Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)” by Don McLean is the song I imagine Mortimer singing to Vincent. Look up the lyrics, because I think this is super-fitting for Vincent (obviously, our Escape The Night Vincent isn't a painter that we know of but still), and ALSO because this song came out in 1972, which is six years before 1978 (the specific year that Season 3 of Escape The Night takes place in), so Mortimer probably heard the song before.


End file.
